


You're a Good Friend

by emphasisonem



Series: Idylwood [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Breakup, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 07:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7524280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emphasisonem/pseuds/emphasisonem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bar’s nearly empty, which Bucky chalks up to the weather. There are a couple of middle aged men guffawing over something in a booth toward the back of the room, and one lone figure at the bar. Bucky almost doesn’t recognize the guy since he’s slumped down in his chair, a morose expression on his  handsome face as he gazes into his glass of beer.</p>
<p>  <i>Steve.</i></p>
<p>  <b>In which Steve and Sharon break up and Bucky's there to comfort Steve.</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	You're a Good Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Fluffy little hurt/comfort fic. Hope you guys like it!

Bucky walks into The Howling Commando over on Maple Street on a cold, wet March night instead of heading home after closing up shop and running some errands. It’s one of those nights that demands hot comfort food and a couple of beers, but Bucky has zero interest in cooking, and this place makes a dynamite bacon cheeseburger.

The bar’s nearly empty, which Bucky chalks up to the weather. There are a couple of middle aged men guffawing over something in a booth toward the back of the room, and one lone figure at the bar. Bucky almost doesn’t recognize the guy since he’s slumped down in his chair, a morose expression on his  handsome face as he gazes into his glass of beer.

_Steve_.

Bucky’s heart simultaneously leaps and aches at the sight of the other man. He’s always glad to see Steve around, but the blond looks so dejected it has his stomach twisted up in worried knots.

For a moment, Bucky debates sliding into a booth and leaving Steve alone because there’s a strong possibility that he doesn’t want to talk to anyone with the way he looks right now. But then his feet are guiding him to the seat beside Steve and he’s hauling himself up and saying hello.

Steve’s big blue eyes dart up to meet Bucky’s, wide with surprise, and the brunet feels the now-familiar stirring of longing in his chest. Not for the first time, Bucky wonders if Steve’s even remotely aware of the hold he has over him. Despite the fact that even after six months they’ve only exchanged awkward small talk (well, Steve’s awkward, Bucky’s flirting) at a couple of town events and on the street outside their shops, Bucky feels what he can only describe as a magnetic pull toward the blond. Bucky trusts his instincts when it comes to Steve; the guy’s in his life for a reason even if it’s not apparent just yet what that reason is.

“You don’t look so great, pal,” Bucky places a hand on Steve’s arm after asking the bartender for a beer, squeezing it gently and then releasing it.

“Yeah, well, I think Sharon and I just broke up, so,” Steve sighs, eyes a little misty as he trains his gaze on the bar, jaw tightening in what Bucky assumes is an effort to keep control of his emotions.

“You wanna talk about it?” Bucky asks, keeping his voice low and soft, nodding to the bartender as he places a glass in front of him, sliding his credit card forward so that the man can start a tab for him.

Steve takes a deep breath, as if to prepare himself, and then Bucky’s getting the whole story.

* * *

Steve’s not prepared for Bucky’s sudden appearance at his side as he nurses a beer. His head’s already swimming - partly from the four (or has it been five?) whiskey shots he’d downed as soon as he’d taken a seat at the bar, partly because it would appear the life he’s worked to build is falling apart. The personal and romantic aspects of it, anyway.

And Bucky’s stormy eyes just look so _concerned_ when he asks Steve if he wants to talk that Steve can’t help but spill the whole thing even though the last thing he wants to do is relive it. He’s not sure why he’s compelled to tell Bucky, but he has a feeling that he can trust the brunet.

He tells Bucky about coming home, about how Sharon had been on his doorstep five minutes later.

“‘We need to talk,’ she said,” Steve smiles sadly, and he’s grateful when Bucky places a warm hand on his forearm. It grounds him, makes it easier to keep going. “So of course, I assume the worst, right? She’s met someone else or something. But then she tells me _I’ve_ been acting weird ever since-” Steve stops, inhaling as though he’s just gearing himself up to continue.

When in reality he’s nearly told Bucky that Sharon had said Steve’s been acting weird ever since Bucky showed up in Idylwood.

“Well, that I’d been acting weird for a while now,” Steve sighs. “She’s not wrong, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” Bucky asks, thumb grazing the skin of Steve’s arm as he moves it in soothing circles. Steve tries not to shiver at the contact, but it’s a close thing.

“Sharon and I have known each other most of our lives, right?” Steve explains. “But I’d been keeping something from her for a long time. From most people here, really. It’s been eating at my conscience lately since she and I have been talking more about the future and marriage and all that, and I guess I must have seemed distant because of it. So I told her, and she didn’t take it well.”

“Told her what?” Bucky’s eyes have narrowed in curiosity, mouth a thin, hard line, and Steve wonders if there’s an expression that doesn’t look sexy on the brunet. He shakes the thought and continues.

“That I’m bisexual,” Steve breathes, the relief of saying it out loud nearly outweighing the disappointment he feels in Sharon’s reaction.

 

* * *

 

Bucky’s not exactly surprised by Steve’s revelation since he’s seen the way Steve checks him out when he thinks Bucky’s not paying attention, but he does have to concentrate on not smiling. Because as great as it is to hear that Steve is into dudes and is comfortable enough now to admit it, the important thing is that Bucky be the sympathetic ear Steve needs. Now is _not_ the time to test the waters. Now is the time to support a good guy he’d like to call his friend.

“She just freaked out,” Steve sighs. “Told me to call her when I came to my senses. I just,” Steve pauses to take a gulp of beer. “I just thought she’d understand, y’know? Thought she - _hic_ \- loved me.”

Steve looks a little unsteady on his seat, and Bucky belatedly realizes the blond is drunk. Not dangerously so, but Bucky resolves to keep an eye on him.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Bucky replies, smiling sadly. “Coming out’s a tough business. Believe me, I know.”

Steve’s eyes widen comically, and Bucky swears that maybe he sees a flash of want in those baby blues. “You’re?”

“Gay,” Bucky shrugs as he grins. “Did you not know? I’m surprised. God knows information travels fast in these small towns.” _Also, I flirt with you at almost every opportunity, Rogers, come on._

“I try not to listen to the gossip,” Steve’s expression is still one of surprise, and Bucky struggles not to laugh.

“Such an upstanding guy,” Bucky chuckles. “Look, why don’t I walk you home? You’ve had a shit day, and sleep’s better for that than getting totally trashed.” Bucky mourns the bacon cheeseburger that he won’t get to eat tonight, but he can make himself a sandwich or something when he gets home. Steve’s his priority right now.

Steve agrees and the two of them head to the blond’s home, Steve stumbling a little, holding onto Bucky’s arm to steady himself.

“Who else knows?” Bucky asks, as he wraps an arm around Steve. Just to keep him upright, of course.

“My mom,” Steve smiles and Bucky’s glad to see that it’s genuine. “Told her as soon as I figured that out. We’re really close. You should meet her one of these days.”

Bucky nods, trying very hard not to read too much into the fact that Steve wants him to meet his mother.

“And, uh, Sam,” Steve continues, grimacing as he says, “Now Sharon knows. I shouldn’t have kept it from her for so long.”

“Would it have made a difference, do you think?” Bucky questions, keeping his voice calm and low, even though he’d kind of like to figure out where the woman lives and give her a piece of his mind.

“I don’t know,” Steve sighs, shoulders slumping. “But if this is how it was going to end, I’d rather the two of us hadn’t wasted so much fucking time.”

Bucky doesn’t know what to say to that, so he remains silent, tightening his grip on Steve’s waist when he feels the other man lurch slightly to the side.

When they reach Steve’s house, the blond pulls Bucky into a tight hug, surprising a laugh out of the brunet.

“Thank you,” Steve breathes, and Bucky struggles not to shiver as the other man’s breath ghosts past his ear and along his neck. “Thank you for listening. You’re a good friend.”

Steve is warm and solid against him, and Bucky doesn’t miss the heat in his blue eyes when the pull back. Steve’s hands are tight on his hips, the whiskey on his breath mixing with the scent of sawdust and the light, clean scent of the soap he uses, and it’s _intoxicating._ It would be so easy, Bucky thinks, to lean forward a few inches, to bridge the gap between them, to kiss Steve breathless.

_Now is not the time._

Bucky pulls back, patting Steve’s arm gently. “Happy to, pal. I’ll see you around, Rogers.”

And although it kills Bucky to turn and leave a slightly-dazed looking Steve standing alone in front of his door, that’s what he does. Because it’s the right thing to do.

The right moment _will_ come, Bucky tells himself as he walks away. And it’ll be worth waiting for.

* * *

 

Steve shakes his head as Bucky departs, trying to clear it. It’s difficult, though, since Steve’s  fairly certain Bucky had been contemplating kissing him.

Granted, maybe Steve’s thinking that because he’s drunk and he _wants_ Bucky to kiss him. But the way the brunet had leaned into his embrace and the way his steely gaze had lingered on Steve’s lips suggests that maybe Steve’s budding crush is reciprocated.

_Fuck_ , he hopes so. Because while he certainly wasn’t going to tell Bucky, the brunet’s a big part of the reason Sharon had stormed out of Steve’s house earlier that evening. Their conversation plays on a loop in his brain, though all Steve wants to do is erase it from his memory. Because no matter what he might feel for Bucky, Sharon has been by his side for years and he does love her. It hurts like hell that she’s rejecting him after all these years.

_“Bisexual?” Sharon narrows her eyes, pretty lips curled into a sneer. “It’s that god damn florist isn’t it? I’ve seen the way you look at him, Steve.”_

_“Sharon, please,” Steve begs. “It’s not like that. It’s just a dumb little crush; it’ll fade. You know I love you.”_

_“I don’t know anything anymore, Steve,” Sharon’s tone is biting, each word hitting Steve like a physical blow. “You’ve kept this huge secret from me. You_ lied _to me.”_

_“I was afraid, Shar,” Steve sighs. “I was afraid you wouldn’t accept it. And you’re kind of proving that fear justified.”_

_“This is ridiculous, Steve,” Sharon snaps. “I’m done. I’m done until you figure this whole thing out because you’re clearly just confused. Call me when you come to your senses.”_

Steve’s only confused about one thing, and that’s how he’d spent nine years loving a woman who refuses to accept him as he is.

He trudges up the stairs and falls into bed, finally letting the tears spill as he curls into himself.

* * *

 

Bucky stops into the hardware store the next morning to check in on Steve. He sees  Sam manning the register, but the blond is nowhere in sight.

“Hey, Romeo,” Sam calls, a smirk on his face. “He ain’t in today. Personal day.”

“Shit,” Bucky exhales, walking up to the counter. “He tell you what happened? How is he? Do you think he needs-”

“Slow down there, Casanova,” Sam chuckles. “He told me, including the part where you were a shoulder to cry on last night. Apparently support from someone who gets how hard it is to come out was very much appreciated it.”

Bucky shrugs, blushing. “Look, I wasn’t trying anything, I just. I want us to be friends. I’m not going to insult you and tell you I’m not interested in Steve because you’re not nearly as dense as he is. But, really, he just looked like he needed someone to listen.”

“I’m not questioning your motives, Bucky,” Sam grins. “And I’m glad you were there. I was at a family thing when he called me, so it’s nice to know he had someone to talk to. Anyway, he’s doing as well as can be expected, I guess. I might try to drag him out later. The thing is, this is his first real breakup. Sharon’s the only serious girlfriend he’s ever had, and he figured she was it, you know?”

“I know,” Bucky grits his teeth, and bites back an unkind comment. Sam notices and laughs.

“You don’t have to rein it in on my account, man,” Sam grins. “Sharon ain’t exactly high on my list of favorite people right now. I thought she was a hell of a lot better than this.”

Bucky just nods, not trusting himself to speak.

They continue chatting, discussing how best to help their friend get through this breakup.

“Getting him out of the house for some fun isn’t a bad idea,” Bucky says. “But wait a bit on that. Right now, he needs to wallow a little bit.”

“And we can help him with that how?” Sam’s brow is furrowed, eyes perplexed.

Bucky smiles, “Well, I have an idea.”

* * *

 

Steve’s tempted to ignore whoever shows up at his door around 6:30 that night, but they won’t stop ringing the fucking doorbell. It’s _incessant_. He opens the door with a scowl in place, but it melts from his features when he sees Sam and Bucky standing on his doorstep.

“All right, sadsack,” Sam announces. “We’re here to teach you how to deal with a breakup.”

“Guys, I really don’t need-” Steve begins, but Bucky cuts him off, thrusting a bag of Chinese takeout into his hands.

“Steve, trust me,” Bucky grins. “I have been on the receiving end of breakups more times than I’d like to count. I am an expert.”

“I have a hard time believing that,” Steve mumbles, but Bucky must catch it because he smirks, winking at Steve. And even though Steve can’t remember the last time he’s felt this miserable, his heart picks up speed and he can’t help a small smile.

“We got Chinese food,” Bucky crows. “We got Ben & Jerry’s. We got sappy movies if you need a good cry. We got funny movies if you need a good laugh. We got horror movies if you’ve made it to the anger stage and wanna see a little blood get spilled. We got ya covered, pal.

Steve glances over at Sam, and the hopeful smile on his best friend’s face is enough to make him nod his acquiescence.

In spite of how shitty the situation is, Steve thinks he’s very lucky to have two great friends who will watch _Legally Blonde_ with him in his time of need.

He thinks maybe he’s going to be all right.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
